Little step-bro no more.
The dogfight that erupted at the end of Saturday night’s Military Bowl — played between East Carolina and NC State, separated by just 83 miles — had been brewing for some time.
“We’re going to be looked at like a little step-brother, that’s fine,” ECU’s head coach Blake Harrell said, per ESPN, after his Pirates topped the Wolfpack, 26-21. “These guys are going to compete, they’re going to take up the challenge.”
The challenge was taken up and the challenger — a bigger, stronger, more popular NC State team — was taken down. But Goliath still got his licks in.
Benches cleared, punches were thrown and an official was left bloodied by the melee, which began with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter.
Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey had just been picked off and ECU, up by five, was in a comfortable position to run the remaining time off the clock.
A Pirate receiver, Yannick Smith, was running off the field and appeared to shout something in the direction of NC State defensive back Tamarcus Cooley.
The defender chased down the receiver and yanked him to the ground, inciting pushing and shoving from a few players in the vicinity.
“This isn’t good,” color commentator Rocky Boiman said in a video of the brawl, posted to X by Awful Announcing.
“We’ve said it a few times, no love lost in the 83 miles that separates these two schools in North Carolina,” play-by-play broadcaster Jay Alter responded.
Game officials were unable to taper tempers and the shoving escalated to the point where the field was littered with players, coaches, assistants and security staff.
At one point, an ECU player ran up behind an NC State player and shoved him in the back, forcing his helmet straight into the face of a referee, who was trying to separate an adjacent skirmish.
The cut, located beneath the ref’s left eye, was spotlighted on the game broadcast as the officials huddled up and worked to sort out the debacle. In the end, eight players were ejected.
“This is a terrible scene at the end of what has been a fantastic bowl game,” Alter said. “You hate to say this.”
As the broadcasters suspected, it was the brawl, not the game, that drew the bulk of attention.
NC State’s near-comeback — the Wolfpack rallied from a 20-7 deficit in the fourth quarter — was an afterthought. As was the game-breaking, 86-yard touchdown run ECU’s Rahjai Harris broke out to regain the lead with just 1:33 remaining.
It was a defiant victory for the Pirates, who entered the bowl game as seven-point underdogs. And considering how often overlooked and overshadowed ECU is by their in-state ACC brethren, all the more triumphant.
“I don’t think you can look at our fans and tell them it’s not a rivalry, it’s an hour and fifteen minutes up the road,” coach Harrel said after the game.
“And there’s a couple of other schools about the same distance — maybe they should put us on their schedule as well, instead of trying to take our players,” Harrel continued. “They want to call our players and take our players. Well how about putting us on the schedule?”
The schedule for 2025 is already set: the Pirates open their season against the Wolfpack.
Aug. 30, circle the date.
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